Hi-
From the Abstract:
"The XML Binding Language (XBL) describes the ability to associate
elements in one document with script, event handlers, CSS, and more
complex content models in another document." The first sentence in the
specification is not correct. XBL bindings can be in the same document
as the bound elements.
Moreover, this abstract doesn't really encompass the scope of XBL's
abilities, and sounds wholly theoretical in places. A reader new to Web
technologies would be left with little idea what this specification is for.
Perhaps something along the lines of, "The XML Binding Language (XBL)
specifies how elements can be associated with author-created patterns
which alter or enhance how that element is represented to the user.
These changes can add behavior (such as scripted or declarative events
handlers), reorder content, enhance styling, or even add content. These
patterns are called 'bindings', and each document can have many
bindings. The same element can have any binding the author wishes,
providing multiple possible views of the element (for example, a
molecule in Chemical Markup Language may be alternately represented as
colored text or as an image, depending on the binding).
XBL works in conjunction with one or more other specifications to
achieve effects that are otherwise difficult or impossible. For
example, XBL can be used to re-order and wrap content so that simple
HTML or XHTML markup can have complex CSS styles applied without
requiring that the markup be polluted with multiple semantically neutral
div elements. XBL can also be used to provide a presentation interface
for XML dialects that do not have a visual aspect, such as XForms, or
which are not yet natively supported by the User Agent (for example,
MathML might be rendered as HTML in a browser that doesn't yet support
MathML). In addition, it can also be used to implement new DOM interfaces."
Regards-
-Doug
Research and Standards Engineer
6th Sense Analytics
www.6thsenseanalytics.com
mobile: 919.824.5482
